A US journalist shocked attendees at a pro-Palestinian rally by setting himself on fire in a dramatic protest. The incident, captured on video, has sparked intense discussions worldwide.
A CBS News journalist self-immolated during a pro-Palestinian protest near the White House on Saturday. Prior to this act, he had written in a blog post that his self-immolation was intended as a demonstration against what he described as media “misinformation” regarding Israel’s war in Gaza.
Video footage shared on social media captured the moment a man set his left arm on fire. Police officers and bystanders quickly surrounded him, using water and a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh to extinguish the flames.
“We spread the misinformation!” he shouted afterward, adding, “I’m a journalist and I said it was okay.”
The individual was later identified as Samuel Mena, a photojournalist working for CBS affiliate network KTVK/KPHO in Arizona. The network stated that Mena was “off duty and not in Washington on station business” at the time of the incident and that he would be terminated for violating company policy regarding “objectivity and neutrality.”
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In an extensive blog post written prior to the incident, Mena expressed frustration about referring to the war in Gaza as a conflict between Israel and Hamas because most of its victims have been civilians.
“How many Palestinians, whom I permitted to be labeled as Hamas, were killed? How many men, women, and children have been targeted by missiles endorsed by the American media?” he wrote.
“I offer my left arm to the ten thousand children in Gaza who have lost a limb due to this conflict,” he concluded.
In the video, Mena’s injuries didn’t look serious. Police later confirmed he was taken to the hospital and treated for minor burns.
The event occurred eight months following Aaron Bushnell, a US Air Force active-duty member, setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC to protest American support for Israel. Bushnell doused himself with flammable liquid and shouted “Free Palestine” as he ignited. Police extinguished the flames using fire extinguishers, but ultimately, Bushnell succumbed to his injuries and passed away later that day.
Monday marks the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, where Palestinian militants killed approximately 1,100 people and took around 250 hostages to Gaza. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas. After nearly a year of aerial strikes and ground operations, almost 42,000 Palestinians have died—most being women and children—according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
